Sunday, August 14, 2005

Rams Road replica for Luxor

The Egyptian Gazette reports that "Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni has approved a proposal to construct a 20 metre long mini-replica of the 3km long Rams Road that connects the Luxor and Karnak temples. The replica will be built in Luxor on the Nile's eastern bank. The Rams Road is an avenue of ram-headed sphinxes leading from the Luxor Temple to the Great Temple of Amun-Ra at Karnak. With the ram being the symbol of fertility for the ancient Egyptians, the spirit of Amun-Ra is supposed to dwell in the ram-headed sphinx.Apart from the ram-deities Khnum, Harsaphes and Amon, actual rams were once worshipped in many cities in recognition of their strength, virility and energy.In another development, Minister Hosni announced that a huge project would be carried out to flood el-Bar el-Gharbi (the West Bank of the Nile) with light during nighttimes. While the temples and statues of the West Bank would be illuminated, the mountain area in particular would be lit up. This would enable tourists to enjoy the sight of "an open-air antiquity panorama at night," noted Hosni. 'The light project will open the door for more tourists to visit the site at night, many of whom will find it far too hot to visit during the burning heat of the day, especially during the summer months. This will also be important for the 2000 to 3000 people who come to Luxor daily on a one-day visit,' Hosni said".

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This blog was set up in 2004 to aggregate news about Egyptology and related topics from online sources on a regular basis. It was closed finally in September 2013 due to other commitments. It has been left open as an archive, but comments have been disabled.